KittyCats are sweet and fine and all that but sometimes a girl has to go out without cute little kittens and have a good time. Thank goodness Beloved Ruby snuck this glittering party dress in the KittyCats & Friends Advent Calendar as today’s gift! With a great star-studded dress for nights out, this is a great gift, suitable year round, not just for the holidays. I paired it with Belle Roussel’s lion-head necklace with a diamond tear drop, a tribute to Cecil the lion, killed needlessly by a hunter in Africa. All proceeds from the sale of this necklace, matching earrings and other jewelry will be donated by Belle to the World Wildlife Foundation.

I couldn’t help but use Mochi Milena’s great skin on the Logo Alex head for this look because it’s so luscious and sexy. And I wanted to match it with the sexiness of Mirja Mills’ straight hair with bangs for the Cosmopolitan Room. I just found the peekaboo from under the bangs coy and provocative. I also love how Mirja has allowed wisps to slip around the hair, giving an otherwise straight look some motion.

“A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together.” ~ Garrison Keillor

Christmas this year is, as always, fraught with some tension in my household. Things like who is going to get the tree out, whose house are we going to on which day, how much are we going to spend on everyone is driving us all crazy. The good thing is that we generally get along and don’t allow it to become a point of argument with each other. It’s us against the world, as it were. So when I got Zzoiezee’s charming gifts for the KittyCatS & Friends Advent Calendar, it was a natural to get them out and create a cozy Christmas card scene (using my poor dude alt who yes, needs some revision but I was hurrying) and erase all that tension with a picture-perfect setting. Zzoiezee packed today’s gift with jammies for him and her, ornaments, a decorated tree (!), and a great couple’s pose (that you see here). Your Christmas card shot is done in one gift from the Calendar!

I enhanced the décor with Winter Thorn’s amazingly cozy woodstove and Christmas décor (which she also offers in white and blue for those of you who are so over red). Everything comes in pieces and she has different settings for the stove so you have a variety of options, all done in Winter’s beautifully warm style. Anaisterpellie and Kerryth Tarantal are two folks who are offering gifting possibilities at the soon-to-open charmingly-decorated Christmas on 34th Street. One of the KittyCatS is checking out a treat Anais is offering for shoppers at one of the gift wrapping stations for a mere 10L. I admit I got in early to the event and Sabein and Callie are in for some awesome holiday gifts this year!

Mina Nakamura is offering this darling hair with hat at Christmas on 34th Street, which means it is also transfer for gift giving. Several of the creators are giving the gifts in a package that can be handed to your friend and when she opens it, the resulting pieces are copy/no trans, so don’t worry about that scary business of giving and potentially losing no copy items. It’s a pretty clever set up as long as you do not peek in the box! (Meaning, don’t open it before you give it or it blows up and you’re holding on to a copy/no transfer item.) Mochi Milena has created a new set of Logo mesh head appliers for the We <3 RP event in three tones. I opted to use the applier on the newly reissued Chloe head and clicked around for the glossy lipstick included with her appliers.

“She was not one for emptying her face of expression. ” ~ J.D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey

Mochi Milena finally came out with her appliers for Maximillion Grant’s Alex mesh head for Logo, a head that accepts Omega appliers, which has become a boon to the mesh head market. Mochi has shown that with artistry and skill, you can make a good shape look great, especially with a wide range of tones and several makeup options in the HUD, including thinner and plumper lips (if you find you want your lipstick to lie a few pixels in). I applied it to the Alex head, which is the head Mochi used when designing the skin but then I couldn’t resist trying it on the Chloe head as well, which was recently rereleased with Omega capabilities as well. Both heads look glorious with the skins. And of course, I had to use the various expressions HUDs to test the makeups’ versatility.

This blog entry was really supposed to be about the Maximillion Grant’s mesh heads paired with Mochi Milena’s skin appliers, but let’s talk about the dress too. In perfectly crafted mesh, ValentinaEvangelista has made this tight shiny latex-lovers’ dress for ROMP. It’s a kinky sexy dream of a dress, not showing as much skin as suggesting containment, restraint, and sexiness. Paired with Glamistry’s newest strappy heels, it’s a sexy look. Topping it with one of Thora Charron’s just-released styles at Lelutka was easy to do, especially with her wide range of great colors and textures. More forthcoming.And AvaGardnerKungler’s earrings for On9 glam it up just that little bit more.

ValentinaEvanglista actually offers this dress in two versions, one plain (yet hardly “plain”) and the other with derogatory words on it to mimic the outfits Amber Rose and Blac Chyna wore to the MTV Video Music Awards. I get the point of the dresses but it’s a fine line from wearing “bitch” or “slut” on my dress as a political statement (and in their case, a publicity stunt) and wearing it on a necklace around my neck or on a septum piercing or worse, tattooed on my skin, even my virtual skin. (I guess my point is, I ain’t wearing it. Being a woman doesn’t make me a bitch or a slut.) When we have suits that say “privileged and brutal white boy arrogant dick” worn by the Donald Trumps of the world maybe I will feel more comfortable.

What is that? I’m scared to close my eyes, I’m scared to open them! I am so scared! I don’t know what’s out there. We are going to die out here! I am so scared! ~ Heather in The Blair Witch Project

Octoberville opened on the LEA9 sim with a ton of entertainment, spookiness, and head-scratching puzzles at the beginning of the month for its TENTH year in SL. Created by Cherub Spectre and Master Kaos, it’s a scavenger hunt that takes you winding around and around the sim, first tracking down the citizens of Octoberville through a murky forest and then through the village, searching for things they have lost, diary pages and, of course, Halloween candy. To play, enter at the LM I have given, take the folder sent, and find the witch. Click her and she’ll give you a HUD. Follow the directions in the notecard and join the Octoberville group for hints and friendship. And make sure you register on the Octoberville website.

Octoberville is clearly well-informed by online scavenger games and MMOs without the killing. You wear the HUD and check off your list by clicking around. Search items move around the sim, so if your friend finds it in one place, you may not. And of course, there is an ongoing story line. Of course, I got distracted posing for photos so my hunt friend went to RL in disgust. Since I only hunt in style, I wore one of the exclusive items Mami Jewell is offering for her grand re-opening—this glorious gown in topaz. I wooshed around the sim, pointing my flashlight at this and that, careful not to get my Glamistry shoes in the mud.

The big news is that Mochi Milena has released her appliers for the Alex Logo head (and hint, they can work on the Logo Chloe head too or any other head that takes Omega). She has really thought them through with a HUD that allows you to have fuller or thinner lips, several makeup options, and a hairbase HUD that works with the Alex hairbase. As always, her makeups are fresh and clean and gorgeous. An elegant updo from Kuranosuke Kamachi exceeded all sartorial expectations at Octoberville.

The flashlight from Octoberville (free!) led me to do a Blair Witch project shot. With the scared expression on the Logo expression HUD, I couldn’t resist.

To much to many people’s surprise, I really do not like promoting myself. It’s a Midwestern thing—don’t make noise, don’t be too full of yourself, don’t put yourself over others. But I have been honored to be nominated once again for the Avi Choice Awards, so for this one blog entry I am going to ask you to vote for my blog, “A Passion for Virtual Fashion,” as Favorite Fashion Blog and for me, “Harper Beresford,” as Favorite Fashion Blogger.

It’s quite easy to do. Go to the Avi Choice Awards here and here (click on these links and they will take you right there). Then just click in the little radio buttons where I have highlighted and click vote. Could it be easier?

Then you can scroll back and check the other polls. There are some wonderful people represented here and some wonderful blogs and bloggers. I am esteemed to be in their company.

OK with that uncomfortable task done, let me tell you about what I am wearing. LacunaInc is participating in My Attic with the theme of “How to Marry a Millionaire.” She came in with this gorgeously textured dress, lace overlaying a satin, in several colors and priced so inexpensively, your millionaire could get you the fatpack and still walk away with change. Senzati0n Domenitzo is also participating with these sexy pumps which are pure class.

I am still beguiled by the skin that Mochi Milena has made for androgynous looks. As a woman’s skin, it’s lovely and provides a beautiful palette for makeup, so I chose a liner from Constance Daehlie and lips from Zxxrysa Magic, which I have been wearing like mad it seems lately. My hair is a gorgeous side-swept look from Shylah Honey for N21 that comes with all the great textures Damselfly offers.

Hair: *~*Damselfly*~*Anjelica Rigged-Mesh by Shylah Honey for Damselfly, available at N21 *

“A power of Butterfly must be –
The Aptitude to fly
Meadows of Majesty concedes
And easy Sweeps of Sky -”
― Emily Dickinson

The EB Awareness Event started yesterday and was quite a success with a full sim and lots of people shopping. Epidermolysis Bullosa is a rare disease that affects 1 in 50,000 children born throughout the world as a result of a genetic disorder. It varies in severity among its sufferers. It is characterized by a defect between the anchoring of the skin between the epidermis (top layer of skin) and the dermis (second layer). People who suffer from EB suffer from skin fragility, blistering and constant pain. “Butterfly Children” is what kids with the disorder are called due to the fragility of their skin so a lot of the décor sold at the fair has butterflies on it.

Kaerri Rae has made an entire set of furniture with monarch butterflies as the motif especially for this event with a large chunk of her income going to DEBRA of America. She offers two sets: one in white with dark gray accents and one in dark gray with white accents. Depending on your décor, you can choose a set and use the pieces with your own existing furniture. I set up two little nooks to show the set, and I included a few other pieces that will be sold at the EB Awareness event, including a darling lamp from Plato Novo.

My sweater is also being sold at the event, a generous offer from Parallax Resident. The sweater comes with a texture-change HUD for some great sweater options. I have seen this in the men’s version too and it’s terrific. Portions of the sale of this sweater go to DEBRA of America. My jeans are a pair of great bell bottoms that Datrip Blackbart has at the Vintage & Cool fair in several colors. My shoes, which I adjusted to my Slink feet, are from Renee Harvy and can be worn without the feet. My handbag is one of the gacha items at Miffhoi Rosca’s kiosk at Season’s Story.

Mochi Milena did an amazing job on the extensive skins she created for this month’s androgynous theme at Genre. I already knew that she put considerable effort into creating options for fembois and women who want cleavage and makeups. I really appreciate that Mochi offers these options to people who want to explore their identity. My hair is Mina Nakamura’s latest for the Dressing Room Fusion and so perfect for the season with a texture change hat as well as the mesh hair. Love this look!

Oh I could drink a case of you darling Still I’d be on my feet oh I would still be on my feet~ “A Case of You” by Joni Mitchell

Been having a few of those days lately where I just want to go home, sink into a chair, and have a glass of wine while I listen to my favorite music and relax. I feel like I am behind on a few tasks, least of which is showing this fabulous furniture, which I set up a while ago to photo. First there is this fabulous retro living room set from Froukje Hoorenbeek that includes all her fabulous animations, from purely sitting and enjoy a glass of wine to actually enjoying some time with a favorite sweetheart, smooching or more. Who knew such innocuous furniture could hold such hot thoughts?

Of course if I flop down on this great massage table from Tya Fallingbridge, someone may come along and give me a massage. Or not. But it sure looks beautiful and tempting in the corner of my bedroom with separate tables of towels and massage oils. This is still at Fameshed for a few more seconds so grab it while you can.

Tya has also made this absolutely stunning bed that includes singles and couples poses and some adult surprises. With carved tropical wood and a sheer curtain across the top, it’s a gorgeous bedroom set that she had at Liaison Collaborative and now has in her store. I put wall hangings from Trace Osterham on each side and hung a darling little mobile/lamp from Plethora in the corner.

My lovely dress, which I also wore for my video with Phobos, is one of Spooky Mistwallow’s lovely interpretations for this mesh dress. I particularly have loved her patterns, which are proportioned nicely on the dress. My new peeptoe pumps are Eudora3D’s newest and come with matching bracelets, sold separately.

Finally I have to brag about this gorgeous skin from Mochi Milena, which she has set up as a free piece for newbies and a very low price for the rest of us mortals. If anyone worries that newbies can’t get good content, they should pull them over to Mochi’s shop to grab this skin. It’s absolutely gorgeous (and ridiculously generous). My hair is lovely braided updo from Mariru Catnap that I grabbed from Fi*Friday before Hair Fair and promptly forgot about, which was a shame because it’s absolutely lovely.

I remember that time you told me you said “Love is touching souls” Surely you touched mine ‘Cause part of you pours out of me In these lines from time to time Oh, you’re in my blood like holy wine You taste so bitter and so sweet